Not So Broken Family
by forever faerie
Summary: Elsa looked up at the house she had grown up in, in the small, Bible belt town. She had been surprised when her mother and father contacted her. After eight years she would finally get to see her brother and her family again. She wasn't sure if she wanted to see her father, considering the last time she had seen him, she was 17 and getting kicked out of the house.
1. The Truth About Reunions

**Hey Elsanna Army! This is going to be a little two shot from an AU world where Elsa and Anna aren't sisters. It's been rolling around in my head for a few weeks now, but I've only just been able to get it right. So please enjoy! I plan for the second chapter to come out sometime in late March, but hopefully it'll be sooner. Alright! Please review, favorite, follow or all three! It's really amazing as an author to get that kind of feedback for your stories.**

**Okay!**

**Disclaimer: Frozen is not mine, sad to say :( **

**Enjoy!**

**Forever Faerie**

Part 1: The Truth About Reunions

Elsa walked through the doors of the quaint café. Class had run over by nearly ten minutes, and she had the stupid notion that walking would be a good thing for an architecture master student. Arguably, her apartment was only about a five-minute walk from the university, but the café, Oaken's Trading Post, was about fifteen minutes from the university, so she was running a grand total of twenty-five minutes late. She partially hoped that her girlfriend was late too, considering it wasn't an uncommon occurrence, but as soon as Elsa walked through the door, she saw strawberry blond hair at their usual table.

"Hey Els! Over here!"

Elsa dashed quickly over to Anna, an apology for her late class already being sputtered out. It was accepted with a chaste kiss, and a light smirk from the redhead.

"I can't believe your class ran sooooooo long! I was beginning to think that you stood me up."

Elsa rolled her eyes. "Like I could ever stand you up. I'd get hell from Rapunzel, and Eugene, and Kristoff. Personally Anna, I like living."

The redhead let out a little giggle. "I know you do! So, our usual?"

Right as Elsa was about to reply, her phone's ringtone started playing. Anna groaned. "If it's your internship calling you in, I swear—" She stopped when she saw Elsa's face go white. "Elsa? Who is it?"

"My parents."

* * *

Elsa looked up at the house she had grown up in, in the small, Bible belt town. She had been surprised when her mother and father contacted her. Her platinum blonde hair was plaited in a simple fishtail braid that fell down her shoulder. Her little brother had been begging to see her, her mother had said. After eight years she would finally get to see her brother and her family again. She wasn't sure if she wanted to see her father, considering the last time she had seen him, she was 17 and getting kicked out of the house.

* * *

_Elsa felt the girl's arms wrap tighter around her own that was thrown over Mulan's waist. They were cuddling on the couch in the den, Elsa occasionally drawing invisible patterns on the Asian girl's soft skin, under the school spirit t-shirt she wore. Both were thrilled to have a place where they didn't have to hide their affections, considering Elsa's family was supposed to be out for the whole weekend. _

_ Mulan shivered slightly, and Elsa let out a soft laugh, grabbing a blanket from behind them to cover their bodies. Mulan turned around in Elsa's arms and cuddled closer, pressing a kiss to her exposed collarbone. "I'm" kiss, "so," kiss, "glad that," kiss, "we have the whole weekend," she kissed Elsa's lips, "together."_

_ Elsa smirked softly. "I can see that."_

_ Mulan let out a soft growl and lunged at Elsa's lips with her own. They fought for dominance for a minute, before Mulan rolled on top of Elsa and straddled her hips. She let her fingers roam at the edge of Elsa's shirt before she pulled it off._

_ Both were too wound up in their own world to hear the sound of the door slamming shut, or the little footsteps as they ran towards the den, throwing the door open. "ELSIE! MAMA AND PAPA SAID I COULD—" Olaf stopped when he saw the two girls on the couch. "Elsie? What're you doin' with Lani?"_

_ Mulan jumped off of Elsa in a second and reached down to grab Elsa's shirt and pushed it into her chest. Elsa heard Mulan hiss in her ear, "I thought you said they were gone," as Elsa pulled the tanktop on as fast as she could._

_ "I thought they were. They said they were leaving for Norway this morning, and that Olaf was going with them to meet Mama's family."_

_ Mulan shook her head and moved to leave. She turned to face Elsa for a second. "When you can, call me, or IM or something. I want to know that you're okay." Elsa nodded her head and watched as the girl dashed out of there._

_ Olaf stayed at in the doorway of the den, confusion coloring his dark eyes. "Why were you kissing Lani?"_

_ Elsa was scared for a moment. How was she supposed to explain this to her younger brother? All he knew about homosexuality was what their father preached about at service. "Olaf—"_

_ "Papa says that it's wrong for two girls or two boys to kiss. He says that it makes God sad."_

_ Elsa prayed silently for a second before she heard the fateful words leave her brother's lips. "I'm telling Papa."_

* * *

As she stood on the front porch, twisting her ring in a nervous habit, she silently wished that she had brought her Anna along. Her girlfriend was absolutely adorable, and a complete sweetheart. Elsa was glad that she didn't accept Anna's offer to come with her though. A part of her needed to do this on her own, and she knew that if she brought Anna along, her father would have a fit, and probably throw Elsa out again, and he would definitely throw Anna out.

Elsa raised her fist to the door. Nearly a second after the knock, she heard someone shout, "I've got it!" The door was wrenched open and she was enveloped in the warm arms of a woman, her mother. "Elsa! You're _home_!"

Elsa couldn't contain the tears and laughter as she held her mother for the first time in what felt like forever. "Let me look at you." The woman pulled back from the tight embrace and studied her daughter. Elsa noticed the gray hairs streaking her mothers once deep brown mane. There were more lines around her eyes, and smile lines around her mouth. She had aged gracefully, but at the same time she _aged_. Elsa didn't squirm under her mother's even, yet critical, gaze. The woman was taking in all of the differences of her daughter. The light layer of makeup, platinum hair that was long and well managed, bangs falling messily over her crystal blue eyes. The almost stranger that was her daughter was dressed simply in teal jeans, a black v-neck tshirt, and a deep purple blazer. She seemed older, more mature than the girl who had been forced to leave all those years ago.

One thing that didn't go unnoticed by her mother was the elegant ring on her left ring finger. She didn't say anything, but silently prayed that she was engaged to someone that loved her as much as she deserved. "Elsa. I want to tell you this now. Your father has changed. He has seen what people like you live with on a daily basis and-"

"Mama. He threw me out because of who I am. I wasn't going to even come. I don't want to hear his apologies. I came to see my brother, and you. If he wishes to see me, then he can, but he can't comment on my life and on who I am. I'm happy for the first time in years because of my girlfriend. I love her and I swear if he makes one comment then-"

"He won't."

"He'd better not."

At that moment, Olaf came running down the stairs. He was nearly ten years younger than the older girl, being a hearty 16-year-old boy. He tackled Elsa through the doorway, holding on to her for dear life. "ELSA! I THOUGHT YOU WOULDN'T EVER COME HOME!" She laughed and hugged him back. "When I left you were short. You can't be taller than me!"

He laughed then added softly, "A lot can happen in eight years."

She pulled away a little bit, a sudden surge of melancholy coloring her good mood, "I know. And I swear that I will always be here for you. Any time you need me, just call, or text, or whatever."

His dark eyes shined with tears, his brown hair ruffled up from their tight embrace. "What Papa did-"

"It's okay Olaf."

"No it isn't! He made you leave because you're gay, because he couldn't deal with the fact that you aren't like everyone else in this stupid little Bible belt town. He hates that we weren't the perfect little preacher's family. He's an idiot who cares too much about his public image and not enough about his family. I'm sorry that I made that mistake. I shouldn't've told him. It doesn't matter to me. And I know Mama doesn't care either."

Elsa smiled softly and kissed her brother's check. "I don't blame you. Actually, I should thank you."

He just gave her a confused look, then glanced at their mother. "What for?"

She smiled at their mother then at Olaf again. "For accepting me."

He grinned. "You'd better get inside. Mama made your favorite meal. And we've got chocolate cake for later, the good chocolate cake. And we'll watch the soccer match, it's Arendelle versus Corona, and then maybe we can go see the horses and…" He kept rambling on in his excited glee, dragging Elsa into the house while their mother walked in behind them. They paused outside of the den, "Are you sure you don't want to say hello to Papa?"

Elsa looked at the closed over door, trying to ignore the memories of their father yelling at her, "Yes."

He nodded his head and continued dragging her until they reached the kitchen. It was full of Elsa's favorite smells. Lemon-Pepper Salmon and wild rice, with roasted vegetables and potatoes with rosemary and thyme, along with a tossed salad and a chocolate cake on the cake stand, the frosting around the edges covered in dark chocolate shavings, while the top had a few larger shavings of white chocolate. She could smell the freshly baked bread being warmed in the oven, and knew instantly that it was the same special Norwegian sweetbread that had been her favorite since she was small. There was even a bottle of Elsa's favorite soda, a sparkling raspberry-limeade that the family only ever bought for special occasions.

Elsa didn't realize how much thought and planning had been put into her welcoming party. She sat on a chair at the table before she collapsed. She began to cry again, only crying harder when Olaf started to squirm around saying that she shouldn't be sad, because they were a family again. Her mother rested a hand on her daughter's shoulder, and whispered, "It's alright, snowflake. None of this was any trouble; it was worth it, knowing this would be your reaction. You are loved here. You always were, and always will be."

There was a gentle clearing of a throat. Elsa noticed her mother and Olaf move slightly away from where she was seated. She glanced up and saw her father standing in the doorway to the kitchen. "Hey, Elsa."

She stiffly responded, "Hello, sir."

His bright blue eyes seemed to darken at the title. "Elsa-"

"I'm only following your wishes. You said that I wasn't to refer to you as my father anymore, remember?"

Her father physically flinched at the venomous tone Elsa used. "Elsa, please. Can we talk in private?"

Her eyes darted to her brother and mother. Each gave her an encouraging smile and nod of their head, before she grudgingly agreed. Her mother spoke quickly, "Talk now, and have dinner after. It isn't quite done yet anyway." Elsa sighed and nodded her head. Her father walked towards the den again, and closed the door when they had entered. "Please take a seat." He gestured to the couch that held too many memories of Elsa's escapades with Mulan.

"Honesty, I'd rather stand."

He cleared his throat again. Elsa remembered it as his nervous habit whenever he had to discus something that made him uncomfortable. _It's you who's making him uncomfortable_. Elsa closed her eyes when the thought entered her mind.

"So how's that girl you were with? Was her name Mi Lang?"

"Mulan? We broke up about two months after…."

He sighed. "After I screwed up the family?"

Elsa didn't protest, she merely raised her eyebrows at the confession. He cleared his throat again. Both stood in awkward silence. She couldn't bring herself to look at him. He was the reason she had so much strife in her life, but he was also the reason she met Anna. She owed him, in a weird way, because if he hadn't kicked her out, she wouldn't have had to go to that teens' shelter, and she wouldn't have roomed with Rapunzel. Rapunzel was best friends, and cousins, with Anna. Anna would visit Rapunzel all the time at the shelter, subsequently meeting and visiting Elsa.

Part of Elsa wanted to bring that up, tell her father about how he was the reason she had met the love of her life, that she was thankful, on some weird level, that he had, and promoted, the shallow, homophobic tendencies shared by most of their small town. She decided that all of that information could wait until she heard what he was going to say to her. She didn't have to wait long.

"Elsa, I don't want to hurt this family further. I never intended to hurt it in the first place. I thought that by making you leave I would be protecting my family and my parish's image. I was wrong." Elsa's head snapped up at the confession. "I'm not saying that I like how you live, hell, I'm not even saying that I condone it! But, but" He tried to grab her attention back, "I don't care how you live your life, as long as you include us in it. I'm giving you the choice. I'd understand if you never wanted to see me again, but Elsa, my little snow queen," Elsa felt a tug at her heart, and tried to blink away her tears. "Elsa, please don't block us out."

It was the first time Elsa could remember seeing her father crying. She met his eyes and whispered softly, "How could I ignore my family?"

He wrapped his arms around her and she hugged him close. They pulled away from the embrace. "So, you and that Mulan chick broke up?"

Elsa let out a small laugh, "Yeah. Turns out she was just using me to get back at her ex, who she got back together with about a month after we broke up."

He gave a bit of a smirk. "Are you seeing anyone as of right now?" He watched as her cheeks turned a slight rose color. "Um, yeah."

"I'd like to meet her someday."

Elsa smiled softly. "Yeah, I hope you do, too. She's a good person, big heart, can be a bit naïve but it's endearing." She paused. "I-I really love her, Papa."

His slight smile didn't go unnoticed when she said the familial name. "Anyone who you love must be worth loving, eh?"

She smiled softly, but before she could say anything in reply, her mother shouted, "You two better come and eat before Olaf eats everything!"

* * *

The evening had gone perfectly by all parties. Elsa found that it was surprisingly easy to fit back into the routine that had been a part of her life for seventeen years. They all shared jokes and happy stories, like Olaf making the varsity hockey team his freshman year, or how the parish had been going so well, they had several newcomers who were now some of the regular parishioners. They didn't touch the serious stuff at all (like Elsa's love life), until Elsa's mother turned to her and blatantly asked, "So, should I start planning a wedding…?" causing the platinum blonde to choke on her drink. "Um, no. Anna and I…" she paused. "We don't want to be married. At least, not until it's legal in Arendelle. We'd want to get married where we know our home is, where we both grew up, and in the city that we met." Both parents smiled softly and Olaf started firing questions at her. "So there is a girl?"

"Yes Olaf, there is."

"Her name's Anna?"

"Yes."

"What does she look like?"

"How about I show you a—"

"No! Describe her to me. I want to see your eyes light up when you talk about her. That's how you know it's true love."

Elsa chuckled. "When I think of Anna, all I can think is of how stubborn she is. She has bright red hair, with one natural streak of gray, and big blue eyes. She's pretty short, and almost always wears a skirt or a dress. She's funny and sweet, cares way too much about everything, but that's why she's a teacher."

Her mother interrupted, "What does she teach?"

"Music to high school kids, and private lessons. She also sometimes does an open mic night at our favorite café. She's an amazing singer. She even wrote me a song."

Everyone noticed her gentle smile and sparkling eyes that just screamed how much she loved this girl, just like Olaf said they would. "So when do we—" Olaf was cut off by a ringtone, it was a girls voice saying, "Whatever you're doing, Els, it's not as important as MEEEEE so get the phone" on loop.

Elsa apologized. "I'm sorry, I thought it was on silent. It's Anna actually—"

"Get it then. You should talk to her." Her mother smiled softly.

"Thanks, Mama. I'll be back in a few."

Elsa walked out onto the front porch. The evening was warm. The sun had long since set and the moon and stars shown merrily down on the blonde woman. Elsa grinned as she pressed the accept call button and sat down on the swinging loveseat that hung from the porch.

"Hey, Anna I've got-"

"Elsa, are you okay? I haven't heard from you and I was worried that maybe something worse had happened this time, because you know what happened the last time you were there, and I just thought that you would've called by now and then I thought what if you were in the ER or something and couldn't call so I started worry-"

"Anna. Listen to me. I am fine, actually, I'm better than fine. They want me back, Anna. They want me to be a part of the family again."

Elsa could've sworn that she heard something crash in the background. "Do you think that's smart, Els? Just because they say that doesn't mean that—"

"No, they want me to be a part of this family, Anna. I know it. Papa, he's letting me call him Papa, he started crying when I said it. He doesn't cry. And he hugged me."

"I'll believe it when I see it."

"Speaking of which…they want to meet you."

She could almost see Anna doing a double take at that. "They want to meet me?"

"They noticed my ring."

"Ooohhhh. So they want to meet their future, hopefully not to distant future, daughter-in-law. They know about-"

"I told them that we didn't want to get married yet, yeah. They actually seemed pretty accepting."

"Tha's a firthst."

Elsa rolled her eyes. "Are you eating chocolate?"

She could hear Anna swallow briskly. "Nope. Actually eating real food thankyouverymuch."

"A chocolate croissant isn't real food."

"Bullshit, it so is! Besides I need it after the day I've had."

Elsa laughed softly. "How was your day then, snowbug?"

Elsa listened to Anna dive into a tale of how her obnoxious coworkers were being idiots again, and how the only sane people there are Rapunzel and Kristoff.

Elsa offered her two cents here and there, mostly to agree with the venting redhead. Finally, when Anna was done, Elsa sighed. "I should go back in there. Say goodbye and head home. I do have work at the firm tomorrow, sadly."

"Then go. I'll be at home, grading these stupid concert reflections that they make us give to the kids."

"Okay. I love you, An."

"Love you too, Els."

Elsa hung up her phone and sighed softly. She heard the screen door shut softly beside her, seeing the familiar head of dark hair that belonged to her brother. "You leaving soon?"

She offered a weak smile. "Yeah. I have my internship tomorrow, and it's a bit of a hike back to the city."

"Yeah. I figured that you wouldn't be able to stay overnight or anything."

She smiled softly. "I'm not going to go away for eight more years. I'll be down all the time, err, as often as I can. It _is_ a four-hour drive one way. I'll come to your games and stuff too, if you text me the dates, I'll try to get them off."

"Cool." He paused for a second, giving her a look that melted her heart. "Just so you know, you're the best big sister ever."

She rolled her eyes. "Mhmm. Sure kid. Stop breaking my heart all the time though." He grinned and turned back to the house and shouted, "Mama! Papa! Come quick! Elsa's gotta go!"

Both parents came out to see their daughter. The older woman embraced her daughter tightly, and whispered in her ear, "I love you. Don't stay away. We've lost enough time as a family."

Elsa pulled back, wiping stray tears from her eyes. She nodded her head, not trusting her voice to not crack when she spoke. She looked over at her father. "My little snow queen." He hugged her tightly and pulled back. "I love you no matter what." There was a slight change in his demeanor. "Now you bring this Anna girl up here for me to meet. I want to make sure that girl knows the consequences if she breaks your heart."

"Yeah. Ain't nobody gunna mess with my sister."

Elsa laughed at her father and brother, and her mother rolled her eyes. "We love you, let us know when you get home?" Her mother offered Elsa her purse and a bag of some of the leftovers from the meal.

Elsa nodded her head, "I will. I love you guys."

She walked to her car parked in the driveway. She turned and waved as she got in. As she drove off, all she could think of how happy she was to have her family back.


	2. The Truth About Introductions

** So here's part two guys :) I actually really like this story and I may or may not continue it on, but not make it completely follow in cannon. Just sort of in these one shots that live in this world. I don't know. I'm working on another elsanna/frozen/Disney story thing that I love and will upload sometime. But yeah. So here's the second part of this. Let me know if you want more of this story, I have ideas, I just don't now if you all want it. Please leave a review if you read the story, I love hearing from you guys! Thank you for the reviews and follows and favorites :) it's really wonderful when I get such support and feedback like that.**

** Okay, now that I've ranted about that, it's time for you all to read!**

** Enjoy,**

** Forever Faerie**

**Disclaimer: Yeah no. Not mine. **

Part Two: The Truth About Introductions

Anna was fidgeting in the passenger next to Elsa. The blonde rolled her eyes at the younger girl's antics. Elsa understood where Anna was coming from with her nervousness. Wasn't it only three months since she had been allowed back into her childhood home? She had had the same nervous energy the redhead was bubbling with. Elsa reached over and held Anna's hand gently in her own. The younger girl's palm was sweaty in the blonde's naturally cold hand. "Anna."

The girl didn't look over at her girlfriend. "Anna, look at me."

She complied. "We're only ten minutes from my house. You wanna talk about why you're nervous as all hell?"

"I am _so_ not—"

"Bullshit."

"Okay maybe a little bit—"

"Anna. Why are you nervous?"

Anna sighed as Elsa pulled off the road onto a little dirt side-road. She parked the car and turned to face Anna. "I'm listening."

Anna nearly groaned out at Elsa's concern for her. "It's nothing. I promise. It's just normal parent-meeting jitters. Just intensified because your dad kinda hates, and is pretty ignorant, about all things gay. I'm scared that I'll say something stupid about our friends, or something. It's hard enough to meet the parents, let alone one who's a preacher in this little redneck town, and doesn't really want to know everything about your love life." She paused, glancing over at Elsa, who had her eyebrow raised and a small, mirth-filled smirk adorning her lips. "Oh, is that all?"

"And I have to impress your mom, which'll be hard because nobody is ever perfect enough for their daughter, and your brother, who seems just as protective as Kristoff is of me. Anybody else I'm meeting today?"

"Nope, just my family. Unless if you count the horses. Then you have to impress them, but seriously, give them a sugar cube and you're wonderful in their eyes."

Anna glanced down at her hands that were still fidgeting in her lap. She coughed softly, clearing a lump that had formed in her throat. "It's just…I mean you won't have to experience this, ya know? You won't have to feel the whole dread of meeting your girlfriend's parents and hoping they think you're good enough."

That hit Elsa like a ton of bricks. _Of course,_ Elsa thought, _she's not just worried about meeting my family. She's mad that I can't meet _her_ parents._

"Anna—"

"Nope. You don't get to do that whole 'Oh my god I'm so sorry for being insensitive' thing. I'm fine. Besides, you had to meet my Aunt and Uncle instead, and they were pretty ridiculous."

Elsa blanched even paler. "We don't talk about it Anna. Your uncle showed me his gun collection, which is huge might I add, and told me about his little, modest property up in the mountains, where nobody ever visits."

Anna giggled, "HE was only kidd—"

"THEN your aunt decided that she should get to know me better, by asking me about my job, and my home life, if I wanted to get married, or if I wanted kids, or if I wanted to travel, did I speak more than one language, what my life was like growing up, and on and on and on about me so she could make sure she approved of me for you."

Anna giggled again, "Both of them loved you though."

Elsa rolled her eyes and laughed. "I honestly though that they hated me. Not to mention Rapunzel was giving me these looks that made me almost piss myself. I mean I knew she was crazy, but god, I was scared for my life."

Anna gave her girlfriend a shit-eating grin. "I may or may not have told her to do that…"

"ANNA!"

"…what?" The redhead had on her best innocent face with a cute little pout. The face that Anna could get away with murder when she pulled it out. Elsa sighed and murmured, "Oh nothing." She turned in her seat and readied herself to drive. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

* * *

Anna's first thoughts as they pulled up to Elsa's home were, _of course she grew up in a fucking mansion on a huge-ass estate_. She knew that Elsa's family had a very comfortable life, but she never thought that Elsa had oversimplified her life growing up. _It makes sense to why she wasn't used to sharing a room, let alone living apartment style._ "Anna, if you don't close your mouth you'll start to drool on my dash." The redhead could hear the smirk in the other woman's voice. "Damn, Els. You said that your family was comfortable, but apparently comfortable is a synonym for loaded!"

Elsa rolled her eyes. "Seriously, it's not that much. The whole property was inherited from my Grandmama and Grandpapa when they died. We really don't have a lot of money."

"Mhmm. Yeah, I believe you."

Elsa laughed softly as she put the car into park. She unbuckled her seatbelt and turned to face Anna. "Ready snowbug?"

"As I'll ever be."

Anna slowly climbed out of the car. She and Elsa had been raised in two completely different worlds, and she honestly didn't know what to expect when she walked through the front doors of that grand house. As they walked up the walkway, she heard someone rushing to the door, and suddenly a guy with messy brown hair and a complexion as fair as Elsa's had tackled the older girl to the ground with a hug and a, "ELSA! I missed you!" Anna, being too nervous to walk up to the front door by herself, but also not wanting to intrude on the cute brother-sister moment, stayed perfectly still, watching her girlfriend and her girlfriend's brother interact.

She was too caught up in the adorable reunion to notice a woman with the same dark hair as the boy walk up next to her. "Alright Olaf. Let me see my daughter."

Anna, being ever so graceful, jumped in surprise, and fell on her jeans-covered ass. "Ummpfft." She sat dazed for a moment, before smiling sheepishly. Elsa rolled her eyes and stood up to help her girlfriend. "I think that's a record. Five minutes without falling on your sorry ass," she commented softly.

"You're a jerk."

"A jerk who's helping you up."

"….true."

The dark haired woman smiled softly at the interactions between her daughter and the young redhead. "Elsa, I trust this is Anna?"

"Yes ma'am. Anna, I'd like for you to meet my mother, Regina. Mama, this is my girlfriend of, god has it been seven years already?"

"I know right!"

Regina was shocked for a second. "You two have been together for seven years?"

Anna nodded her head. "Yes we have. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Fro—"

"Oh I'll have none of that."

Anna widened her eyes for a second and nodded her head quickly. "You call me Regina or Mama like everyone else in this family, you hear?"

"Yes ma'am." Anna paused for a second and let out a slight chortle, "I'm sorry it's just that I never say ma'am. It sounds too much like what a servant would say, or someone would say it to someone else in a higher position or something. I get called ma'am all the time because I'm a teacher and there's this military base nearby and even if you tell the kids to not call you ma'am it just slips out for them because it's habit. I just think that it's odd that it kinda slipped out of my…I'm rambling, aren't I?" She took a second to recompose herself. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Regina." She held out her hand in offering to the older woman, who completely bypassed it and pulled the smaller woman into a warm, motherly embrace.

A man with sandy hair and eyes that matched Elsa's identically was standing on the porch by the front door. Anna was more than a little nervous to meet Elsa's father, knowing how close the two had been, and now that they had reconnected, how much closer they have started to become again. He was the one that she would have to impress, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she was worthy of his darling girl's love.

Anna was distracted from her musings by a tap on her shoulder. "Hey, Anna. I'm Olaf and I like warm hugs."

Elsa laughed softly and Anna turned around quickly to face the boy. On closer inspection, he was almost half a foot taller than Anna, and much less of a boy and more of a young man. But she taught kids just as tall and just as goofy. She'd have no problem connecting with him. "Well I'm Anna and I love giving warm hugs!"

He laughed and pulled her into a hug so tight he actually lifted her off of her feet. "I like you. Elsa," the woman turned to face her younger brother, "You're keeping her. She gives good hugs."

"I know, Olaf. How else do you think we met?"

Anna blushed a light pink color. "I did _not_ give you a hug on the first day that we met. Rapunzel, duh, she's my cousin, but not you. You were a freak back then, remember?"

Olaf laughed as Elsa responded, "And you were way too cheerful. Seriously, I thought you were in there for freaking bipolar disorder. You were way to happy. It was unhealthy."

"I'm not the one who shied away from human contact. You didn't even shake my hand."

"Would you take cooties as a valid excuse for not shaking it?"

"No."

"What about nervousness for a new situation and meeting a bubbly redhead on top of that, and I'm a quiet person to begin. It's only understandable that I'd shy away a little bit."

Both Olaf and Regina smiled as the two girls bickered gently, clearly preforming a well rehearsed conversation with little teasing jibes and fake hostility and exasperation. Elsa's father continued to watch from his post by the door, a small smile adorning his lips as he watched the two girl's tease each other with a loving glow in their eyes.

"Whatever, blondie. I guess you win this round."

Elsa smiled triumphantly and turned her head towards the door. "Papa! I didn't see you there." Like a dutiful daughter, Elsa quickly hurried up the steps of the porch and gently placed a kiss on her father's cheek. Anna walked up behind her and smiled softly at the man. "Hello, sir. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. Elsa's spoken about you, all of you really, a lot."

He looked her up and down for a second, smiled softly, and offered out his hand. "It's nice to meet you too, Anna. I'm sure Regina told you to call her just that, and I would love it if you would call me Arthur." The redhead nodded her head. "Good. Now that that's all settled, why don't we all go inside. Regina's made a lot of food, so expect to bring some home." He turned to Elsa and said with an impish glint in his eyes, "She made the bread."

Anna barely ever saw the childish grin that burst from her usually mature girlfriend's face. She liked it. She liked seeing all of the responsibility that Elsa shouldered fall away, and see Elsa just relax. Anna felt warm hands on her shoulders and watched as Olaf, Arthur, and Elsa all turned to walk into the house. "Anna?" Regina spoke softly, "I'm glad that you and Elsa have been together so long. I'm sure you kept her sane while she was..."

Anna smiled sadly. "She was a mess when I first met her. I'm just glad that I was there for her. She needed someone on her side."

"She did."

"And now she'll always have someone on her side. I love her more than anything."

Regina turned to face the young woman. "I know every mother thinks that their daughter deserves the best, but with what she has been forced to live through…."

"I entirely agree. Which is why I would never hurt your daughter. Like I said, I love her more than anything, and when she's hurt, I actually feel the same hurt. It's weird, but I can't imagine life without her, and I don't want to live life without her."

The brunette seemed pleased with the redhead's response. "Alright then. I need to go finish making dinner. You go find Elsa and Olaf. I'm sure that they'd want to introduce you to Sven and Marshmallow."

* * *

Elsa had wanted to show Anna Marshmallow and Sven, the two beautiful Norwegian horses her family owned. She'd even got Anna to ride Sven around the corral bareback for a little bit, while Olaf shouted encouraging words from the fence, and Elsa lead Sven around the corral. Anna had actually enjoyed it.

Elsa's phone chimed, and she glanced down at it and read, "'I hope you kids are having fun, but it's time to eat, so get your butts back to the house. Xoxox Mama' I can't believe she still signs her texts."

Olaf rolled his eyes as he jumped off of the fence. "You actually have no idea. It can be ridiculous at times. Papa still doesn't understand how to text. He just sends back a blank message so you know he got it."

Anna and Elsa both laughed as Elsa helped Anna dismount. "That's the complete opposite of my aunt and uncle. They actually taught my cousin and me how to text. Like freaking emoji's and everything."

Olaf smiled. "What about you're folks? They just as tech-inept as ours?"

He watched as Anna's smile faltered as she glanced down at her feet. Elsa took that moment to quickly shoot Olaf a dark look. He was confused, but he watched as Anna looked back up and gave a partial smile. "Um, my parents died when I was almost eleven. They'd won a cruse for two to the Caribbean. My vacation was visiting my aunt and uncle in America. The cruse ship actually hit an unmarked reef and sunk. My parents didn't make it." Her turquoise eyes darkened at the memory. Elsa didn't touch Anna, and Olaf moved over to touch her, but she brushed him off. She made eye contact with Elsa for a quick second before smiling. "So dinner. I honestly fear your mother, and I don't want to be on her bad side. So I think we should head back up."

The siblings nodded their heads, and to the couple's relief, Olaf gladly distracted them with stories from his high school while they walked back to the house.

* * *

The dinner was delicious, and Anna understood the childish smirk her girlfriend had when her father mentioned the bread. It was absolutely delicious. She could practically see little Elsa helping her mother prepare French toast with the leftover loaf, or her mother teaching her how to kneed the dough and braid it. It made her nostalgic for her girlfriend. Anna figured that there were many memories that Elsa must have been confronted by just because of that delicious bread.

She vaguely heard somebody ask her about her profession. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. "I teach music at Arendelle High, choir, honors choir, private lessons, and some instruments." The question had come from Arthur. He smiled genuinely at her response. "So you're a music lover as well?"

"Yes I am! I love music, and I'm thoroughly happy that Elsa plays piano and violin, and she sings beautifully."

"I'm no where near as good as you are. You teach kids how to sing well. I barely carry a tune when I sing."

"That's bul—" Anna caught the swear that was about to tumble off her tongue when she received a warning glance from Elsa, "nonsense and you know it. Remember when you, Punzie, and I were going to be a girl group? We wrote two not half bad songs, and then gave up."

Elsa rolled her eyes. "This was when you were 16 and we were 19 and you were determined to be as cool as the college kids. You thought that the only way that could be possible was if we were part of a super exclusive club, aka the band Norwegian Princesses." Olaf burst out laughing. Anna feigned looking offended, but Elsa quipped, "Oh that was an awful name and you know it," and wiped the look off her face. Both parents started laughing and Regina rose to clear the table. The matriarch turned towards the three young ones and gave a look to Olaf and Elsa that blatantly said, "You two are now child-slaves and will help me clean up."

Anna, who longed to help clear away the meal, was taken down the hall to the den by Arthur for a private conversation. This was the moment she had been dreading the entire visit. He gestured to the couch for her to take a seat, while he easily sat in the reclining chair. Anna gulped softly and sat down. She never broke eye contact with the man. He cleared his throat, and smiled softly. "Anna," he began, "you have no reason to be nervous. Honestly. I think that you're a lovely girl. I wanted to talk to you about Elsa. About how you two…met. I know that you didn't start dating until after I…"

Anna smiled softly. "Yeah. Um, I mean, this is really Elsa's story. But if you must know how I met her, and that's _all_ I'm telling you, then here we go." She took a deep breath before retelling the memory of how she met her soul mate.

"My cousin was at this home for teens with problems. Some had drug problems, others had mental problems, and some had parent problems. My cousin was Elsa's roommate, but only for about two weeks." The turquoise eyes started to glow with love. "But that was enough time for me to get attached to Elsa. Rapunzel and I would visit nearly every other day, and spend weekends with her. When Kai and Gerta, the people who ran the home, let her transfer into our high school it was nearly impossible to separate the three of us. Naturally, Elsa told us that she was gay, and I told her that I was bi, and next thing we knew we were dating. It was pretty fast. We started dating, obviously, the summer after her senior year."

Arthur's face remained stoic, but there was the slightest lifting of the corners of his eyes when Anna began to ramble. He paused her by lifting his hand, and asked, "Did she only go to the home because of me?"

Anna's brow crinkled in confusion, "I don't understand—"

"Did she only go to the home because she needed a place to stay? Or did she have other reasons? I know my daughter and I know that she can be proud, sometimes too proud to ask for help." Anna knew from Arthur's mirthless laugh that Elsa inherited that trait from him.

"She—" Anna paused for a second. It wasn't her place to tell her girlfriend's father about why she went to the shelter. That was all for Elsa. Anna could feel the pricks of resentment and anger she had held for the man sitting across from her. Seeing him now, she realized that he had been proud, but he had also been scared. Proud of his little world that Elsa had ruined, and scared of what he didn't understand, which was Elsa. She closed her eyes and sighed. It wasn't her story to tell. "Arthur, I'm going to be honest with you." The man sat attentively, clear blue eyes trained on Anna's own. "This isn't for me to tell. Elsa went through hell, and it's for her to talk to you about." She could see the anguish and self-loathing she had seen in Elsa's eyes too often reflected perfectly in his. "Please understand, it's just not my job to tell you. It's hers."

The man nodded his head, Anna could imagine the emotions he was feeling, but he brushed them off slowly, restoring his friendly mask. _Something else Elsa does exactly like him_, Anna mused.

"Thank you for telling me what you can. I'm hopeful that Elsa will tell me someday."

Anna smiled reassuringly. "She loves you too much to not tell you."

* * *

When Anna and Arthur finally returned from the den, Elsa had nearly paced a hole into the wooden floor of the kitchen. To her great relief, her father and girlfriend were laughing as they entered the kitchen. Anna walked up to Elsa and wrapped her arms around the taller woman's waist. Anna would tell Elsa what her father had asked of her on the car ride home that night. Right now she was too content from the good meal and the happy family that she was now a part of.


	3. The Truth About Opinions

** AN: Hello my darling snowflakes! Now I hate to be one of **_**those**_** authors on this website, but I have over 1000 views, and only five reviews, and that kinda stings a little. So if it isn't too much, please leave a little review, or you can PM me if you don't feel comfortable reviewing. Just let me know how it goes! **

** Fair warning, this one's a little dark. I have a full plot outlined and waiting to be written! I'll try to update more than once or twice a month, but until I'm out of college for the semester, this is how it's going to be. **

** Quick shout out to my beta Deep Treble, she seriously keeps these fics alive and catches all of my little grammar slipups. She's a lifesaver and a great friend :)**

** Alright, Enjoy Snowflakes!**

**-Forever Faeire**

** DISCLAIMER: FROZEN IS OWNED BY DISNEY. NOT ME. GOD DO I WISH.**

Part 3: The Truth about Opinions

Something was off in their apartment. That was the first thing that Elsa noticed when she walked through the door, but she brushed it aside when Anna announced that she had made food (and bought two chocolate cupcakes) for them. Both enjoyed their simple dinner, and favorite dessert, before they settled in a familiar ritual of reading their newspaper sections. The strange feeling came back when they were silent. Elsa glanced over at her as Anna doodled on the corner of the Arts section she had been reading. "I thought I was the only one allowed to doodle?" she joked to the redhead. "Humm? Oh, I didn't even realize what I was doing."

The blonde narrowed her eyes. "What are you thinking about that makes you so spacey?"

Anna blinked. "Just stuff."

"That's all?"

"It's just stuff." The girl put the paper down and looked up at Elsa. "I just want you to know how happy I am to have you in my life. And your family, they've seriously become my new family and I can't ever thank you enough for that. But I love you. You know that right? I love you more than anything, and it scares me sometimes how much I actually love you. I just want you to understand that if anything ever happened to you, to us, I wouldn't just up and leave you. I'd stick through it. I love you." She laughed bitterly. "God. I'm sorry about that. It's been a long day. And the school just—" her voice cracked. "It's just been a bad day."

Elsa reached over and touched her girlfriend's cheek, noticing a little wet trail that was making its way down the freckled skin. "Hey, hey snowflake, what's wrong? What's happened at work?"

The younger girl stood up suddenly from their kitchen table, furiously wiping away at the salty tears that stung her face. "No-Nothing, Els. It's just nothing." She moved to walk towards their family room, but as she did, Elsa leaned back in her chair and grabbed her arm. "Bullshit." She tugged the girl down on to her lap. "Tell me what's happened. It takes a lot to make you cry."

Anna sighed. "Where do you want me to start?"

"How about at the beginning?"

Anna took a little gulp and shook her head. "Elsa."

The blonde held the redhead closer in her arms. "Okay. Okay, it's okay Anna." She slowly soothed the younger girl from her trembles. "Elsa I can't talk about it. Not now. Can you just…" She glanced up at ice blue eyes with her own red-rimmed ones, "Take my mind of it. Distract me or something. Please." Elsa nodded her head gently and pressed her lips against Anna's temple while she thought up a good distraction plan.

She gasped and said, "What about we have a little get together for Saturday? I won't have class or work and you won't have work. We could have Rapunzel, Eugene, Kristoff, Merida, and Hans. A little get together and we'd play games and catch up."

Anna grinned. "It's been ages since we've all been able to hang out. Mer's been busy at the barn and Hans just took the Barr, we could celebrate that!"

Elsa was proud of her ability to distract the younger girl. She was excited to see the normal peppy, joyful glint in her sea blue eyes again. Whatever had made them so dark hurt Elsa and she didn't ever want to see them get that way again. _Whatever she has to tell me can wait. Right now she needs to be happy and forget this trouble that's hurting her so much, _Elsa thought.

Anna quickly jumped off her lap and kissed her cheek. "I'll send out a mass email to everyone. I'm sure I'll get responses from Punzie and Kriss tomorrow." She started doing the little excited dance that she did when she was overjoyed with something. "This'll be great! Just like college again!"

* * *

Planning the little party had taken all of Friday afternoon, after getting confirmation emails from Hans and Merida, and Anna getting squealed at by her cousin and her best friend. Well, Kristoff didn't exactly squeal, he just grinned in enthusiasm. All three felt a desperate need for a party, some form of distraction from this whole week. Rapunzel didn't stop talking about how great it will be and how Eugene didn't mine supplying the booze, because Amnesia and Slender Man were always best played when drunk. Anna knew better than to protest the playing of those games. With Merida, Hans, Elsa, and Eugene all in one room, drunk or sober those two games were being played.

Both women rushed quickly about their apartment making last minute adjustments to the furniture and the snacks on the table. The family room was all set up for a night of gaming and having fun. They knew they didn't have to impress anyone coming over, but these little impromptu gatherings were always important to both girls, and they always wanted their friends to have an excellent time.

Anna heard the buzz and unlocked the main entrance to the building. Seconds later there was the familiar rhythmic knock that Anna, Elsa, Merida and Rapunzel all used. Elsa yanked open the door to be quickly embraced by a short brunette, with her husband laughing behind her. "Punzie! Hey, I missed you too."

Anna giggled from inside the apartment. "Hey! Little miss artsy fartsy, get your ass in here and gimme some booze!" The husband and wife both laughed and walked in. The buzzer gurgled again and Elsa let the rest of their friends into the building. Again, seconds later Elsa was ensnared in a tight hug from a redhead, she assumed it was Merida, considering the person was about an inch shorted than her. "Mer, how are you?"

"Bloody perfect. And in the dire need for a drink. Got any good stuff?"

"Ask Eugene."

The Scott grumbled about how the German only ever brought shitty beer, but still made her way into the house. Kristoff was next, with a gently clap on Elsa's shoulder and a little nod of his head. Finally came Hans, who Elsa greeted with a, "Why isn't it the lovable little asshole of the hour. How'd the exam go?"

He rolled his eyes and was tugged in a side hug. "Abso-fucking-lutely bullshit. Why the hell did I want to be a lawyer again?"

"Because you like making evil corporations filthy fucking rich?"

"Hardy har har, Els. But seriously, why?"

She smiled genuinely. "You're a good fighter and you stick up for the little guy…usually. I mean there was that time when we were in high school—"

He shook his head. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, back then I was an idiot who thought that women were to be objectified and whatever. I was a loser. I've grown up since then…right?"

Elsa smirked. "Well, you're no longer misquoting the Bible at a preacher's daughter, so I think you're doing alright."

He laughed, "Yeah. I guess I'm not as much as an asshole?"

"Exactly. You just know how to deal with them."

Anna dashed over then, "Well, are you guys coming or what? I don't want us to start the party without the one we're all celebrating!" They complied with the smaller redhead's wishes and started to enjoy the party.

* * *

They group was just getting into "Amnesia: The Darkest Descent", and Kristoff had somehow never played before, so he was the first player up. Hans, Eugene, Merida, and Anna all sat around him on the ground, each taking sips from their drinks periodically, and cheering on the burly blond, or warning him of impending doom.

"NO! NO NO NO NO! LEFT LEFT! GO FUKING LEFT! SHIT KRISTOFF YOU'RE DEAD!" Anna shrieked at her best friend.

Elsa and Rapunzel were perched on the couch, laughing at the antics of their little group. They weren't following the story that deeply, both girls had played before, and beaten the game with only a few jumps and shouts of their own. Their conversation was simple chitchat about life at the school, or at the firm and in class. Rapunzel finished off her story with, "You know what that little fucker passed in? A fucking _nude portrait_." Elsa laughed. "No I don't think you understand. My assignment was a self-portrait. He did a full frontal, in charcoal."

"And?"

Rapunzel sighed. "And if I was his college professor I would've given him an A, but I had to fail him and report it." She glanced mischievously from side to side, "and if I was this kid's girlfriend, I'd be one lucky bitch."

Elsa threw her head back and laughed. "Wow, you never talk like that. It was seriously that good, huh?"

The brunette nodded her head vigorously. "It was great, like the actual art was wonderful. He had perfect lines, great shading, and solid anatomy. He has such a talent and gift for art. If only he wasn't such an asshole. It pisses me off so much, and goddamn it he didn't even get in trouble for beating up that poor kid." Rapunzel shuddered. "You know about that, right?"

Elsa glanced over at the back of her girlfriend's head. "No. What happened? Is that why Anna was so distressed the other day? She wouldn't tell me what happened."

"What do you mean she didn't tell you?"

"Punzie, I had no idea that anyone got in a fight at the high school. Anna never told me that anything happened, she was too distressed. She wanted a distraction, and I suggested we plan the party. That's what the source of this really is."

Rapunzel smiled softly at the platinum blonde. "I can't tell you."

Elsa rolled her eyes. "Oh come _on_ Rapunzel—"

"No," Rapunzel began, "No. This is something that has to come from her. It can't come from me because it really isn't any of my business, even if she is my cousin. Just, just ask her. Please? It has to come from her."

Elsa nodded her head, and Rapunzel returned it with a stiff nod. They both went back to watching Kristoff curse out the video game, along with the help of his posse's help. Soon the seriousness of their conversation was forgotten and they were enjoying the party once again.

* * *

Their friends had finally all left, each one a little tipsy from the night's celebrations and festivities. The two hostesses were grinning, but exhausted by the slightly daunting task of cleaning up. Gladly, most of the cleaning and clearing away was simply walking around their apartment gathering beer bottles and paper plates. They were done thankfully quickly.

Anna decided that she desperately needed to unwind from the party and dashed to the bedroom to get ready for bed. Elsa followed, leaning against the doorframe, watching her lover and playing with the end of her braid. She couldn't shake what Rapunzel had said, and she knew that she had to ask tonight. If she didn't, then it could be weeks before Anna tells her of her own free will.

"Anna?"

The redhead glanced up just fast enough to cause her to stumble while she was pulling on her pajama pants. Elsa straightened to save her girlfriend but was waved off as Anna righted herself. "Yeah?"

Elsa let out a shaky breath. "Rapunzel told me that I should ask about something."

She studied Anna's face carefully as she spoke. The redhead's eyes darkened with knowledge of what Elsa was speaking about. She glanced over at her girlfriend. "Elsa—"

"Anna, tell me. Tell me why this bothered you so much, besides obvious reasons. Please, I want to know why this hurt you so intensely that your cousin couldn't tell me."

The redhead glanced straight up before her eyes glanced over at her girlfriend's face. "One of my favorite students got beat up."

Elsa sighed. "I'm sorry."

The redhead shook her head. "That's not why I'm so upset—no not even upset. I'm scared, Elsa."

Elsa suddenly saw the young fifteen year old standing there, scared of coming out to her family, crying because she didn't know if she could be free to be herself. Elsa prayed that she would be able to comfort her in a similar way her only family had. She wished that she could reassure Anna in whatever way she could, but she knew instinctively that the redhead's story was far from over, and that the story was going to get so much worse than Elsa could imagine.

Neither girl moved from their positions in the room. Anna rubbed a hand over her face and up through her bangs. She glanced at Elsa and let it drop to her side. "Elsa. He was beaten up because he's gay."

Within seconds Elsa had her arms around Anna's body. "The boys who did it said that he was unnatural and deserved every second of the beating. He was stripped to his underwear and wiped with a belt, Elsa, a fucking belt." Elsa held Anna in her arms and rubbed circles in her back. "The boys who did it got away."

Elsa pulled out of Anna's embrace. "What? _What? _What the _fuck_ do you mean they got away?"

Anna laughed mirthlessly. "The boy was too scared to give out their names. I only have an idea of who the boys were; Rapunzel's pretty sure of one of them, and I wouldn't be surprised if he was involved. Him and his cronies are always saying bullshit like "that's so gay" or making gay jokes. But that's not the worst part of all of this bullshit."

Elsa watched her girlfriend and listened intently. "Mr. Weselton called a staff meeting, you know, to ensure that we use discretion when we were asked about the subject by other students and to stop gossip about it and normal teacher things. It was what he said a-afterwards that really scared me."

Anna hadn't been watching Elsa's face intently, just glancing over occasionally to gauge her reactions to the story. Now she wasn't able to reach Elsa's eyes. She could barely spit out the words the principal of the school had said to her and some of her coworkers. "H-he said, 'C-can't say I'm s-surprised. The little f-f-faggot had it coming.' One of my coworkers laughed at the remark and said back, 't-those boys who put that freak b-b-back in his place were only doing G-God's work.'" Anna couldn't hold back her sobs anymore, and Elsa could barely contain her rage long enough to let go of her girlfriend and turn her fury to the wall behind them.

Anna glanced over at Elsa as she cursed under her breath and shook her hand lightly, their bedroom wall was dented and Elsa's hand was swelling rapidly. Anna trembled even harder as Elsa wheeled on her with a fury blazing in her eyes that Anna had never seen before.

"What the actual _fuck_?!" Elsa was a woman of few words, and usually a woman of reserved emotions, but in this moment she let all of the animosity and hatred she felt course through her veins and thrum in her ears. All she could think was about how when she was a teen, even though her father had hated her, the thought had never even crossed his mind to try to beat the gay out of her. _What kind of person beats the shit out of a kid, humiliates him, all because he loves someone of his own sex. And then teachers, fucking _teachers_ say this kid deserved it because he's gay. What the fuck is wrong with people?_ She was seeing red, and continued seething until she heard the faint whimper coming from her girlfriend. Most of her anger instantly dissipated, and whatever was left over ebbed into a protective possessiveness for her smaller girlfriend.

Anna watched as Elsa regained control over her emotions. She watched Elsa take a deep breath and close her eyes. The next time they opened, Anna was relieved to see the icy blue color once again mostly clear. Anna walked over to Elsa and wrapped her arms around the taller woman's waist, burring her head in Elsa's chest, breathing in the familiar scent of chocolate, vanilla, and winter.

"Anna," Elsa breathed out softly. Anna responded by nuzzling further into her girlfriend's chest. "Anna. I'm sorry for reacting the way I did. I just—I can't imagine what that must be like, to hear that from people you work with. To hear that from your _boss_." Elsa kissed the top of Anna's head softly.

"S'okay. Rapunzel reacted similarly, just, ya know, she didn't physically hit anything, but she did rant for a few minutes. She said Eugene went to the gym afterwards, she said his hands were completely torn up from boxing without wrapping them first. Kristoff went out to the school's lawn shed thing. I'm pretty sure he broke something out there." She glanced up meekly. "I honestly didn't know what to expect from you."

Elsa pulled a hand free from Anna's waist and stroked the redhead's cheek. "I understand. I don't really get angry often enough to have a huge reaction. I just want you to know that all I want is your safety. It's the bare minimum required from me as your loving and adoring girlfriend. Just" she paused, clearing her throat at the sudden lump she felt there. "Just please be careful. Now that we know you work amongst homophobic assholes, there's no telling what they would do to ruin you."

The shorter woman looked up at her girlfriend. "I promise to be careful. Or," she smirked gently, "I could just leave the school."

Elsa rolled her eyes. "Psshhttt. Yeah, right, you'd leave working with Punzie and Kristoff just because you're scared? That sounds _exactly_ like something you'd do."

Anna giggled and pulled out of Elsa's gentle embrace. "C'mon. Lets go to bed." She grabbed Elsa's hand, but the blonde let out a little yelp, and then a groan. "I swear to God if I broke it…"

Anna giggled again. "I mean you _did_ dent the wall there." She leaned over and kissed Elsa as both lay down for bed. "I'll take you to the ER to get X-rayed tomorrow. If it's broken then it's broken."

Elsa grumbled to herself. Anna sighed again and kissed Elsa's cheek. "Goodnight grouchy," she paused, "and thank you. I know I mean a lot to you, but I forget sometimes just how much you love me and want me to be safe."

Elsa smiled softly and rubbed their noses together. "I would say anytime, but I kind of need my wrist to type emails and draw plans. Soooo, anytime that it's both an extreme case and it's direly important, snowflake."


	4. The Truth About the Past

**A/N: Hey snowflakes :3 So a few announcements until you guys can read some more of the story! First off a shout out to RainbowUnicornsR-MyLife for being so dedicated to the story. I love getting your PMs. Also, thanks to all who have favorited and subscribed to this story, as well as reviewed. I love getting them! Leave them if you want to, and if you do then everyone gets a nice piece of chocolate. Also, follow me on Tumblr! A link to my page is on my profile and my url is forever-faerie. **

** Shout out to my beta Deep Treble! She's a great beta, keeping my little stories grammatically correct and coherent, as well as being the person I bounce ideas off of. **

** I'm adding a trigger warning for past sexual assault! It's not talked about in detail, but it's still here and I don't want anyone freaking out or anything. I love you guys and if you need somebody to talk to, my PM box is open always.**

** Alright. On a much happier note, on with the story.**

**Enjoy,**

**Forever Faerie **

**Disclaimer: so not mine. Just all of the nope.**

Part 4: The Truth About the Past

Elsa decided that, after finding out that her wrist wasn't shattered but two of her metacarpals were bruised and one of her wrist bones was broken, it was time to get Anna away from the school for a little while. Both needed a distraction and, per Anna's request, they would travel to Elsa's family's home. Anna said she needed somewhere where there were people who loved them unconditionally, and Elsa needed a stress-free environment for her hand to begin healing. Their little vacation would only last for the long weekend; the school had been closed on Thursday and would be reopened on Tuesday, and Elsa had previously requested the time off from the firm.

Arthur and Regina had been pleasantly surprised when they received Anna's call. Both were curious as to what, exactly, had caused their usually calm and rational daughter to punch an almost-hole in her bedroom wall. When Regina asked, Anna replied with, "We're trying really hard to not focus on it. Plus, it's something that shouldn't be talked about over the phone. We're coming down there to hopefully escape from this drama for a while." She paused for a second, and then continued, "Please don't worry too much for right now. I promise that we will tell you what happened before we leave on Monday." Regina agreed and said that she would make sure that her husband and Olaf didn't pressure the two to tell them whatever they needed to say.

After Anna hung up she relayed the message to Elsa, who nodded her head while glaring darkly at the cast on her arm. Anna laughed softly and picked up a pink sharpie, quickly writing her name on the section that covered Elsa's forearm, adding a heart at the end of it. "It'll be off soon enough, and you'll be back to designing skyscrapers and doodling ice palaces." The blonde rolled her eyes. "Ice is not a good building material. It would melt in direct sunlight and would fissure under excessive pressure."

"Doesn't mean you don't draw them. I've seen your sketchbook before. You draw ice palaces and me."

"Whatever you say, snowflake."

Anna quickly captured Elsa's lips with her own before jumping up and rummaging through a closet, hunting down two duffle bags. She emerged victoriously shortly after Elsa heard something shatter. "Was that my—"

"Nope! It was the vase thing that I forgot I put there."

Elsa's eyebrow rose slightly. "The one with the snowflakes?"

"Psssshtt no! The ugly one that we got at the yard sale Punzie had when she and Eugene moved in together. The one she guilt tripped us into buying?"

"God I hated that vase. You cleaned the shards, right?"

Anna rolled her eyes. "Well duh. I don't want _another_ impromptu visit to the ER…glass shards in feet sucks."

"You speak from first hand experience?"

The redhead grinned. "That, my love, is a college-frat-party-that-Rapunzel-forced-me-to-go-to story for another day. We have to pack, considering we're leaving tomorrow. Probably early?"

The blonde nodded quickly and stood up from the chair in the kitchen. "Yeah. I don't think you're going to let me drive, so I want to leave when there's the least amount of cars on the road. Ya know, so you don't kill anyone. Myself included."

Anna stuck her tongue out at the slightly older woman before returning to their bedroom to pack. Elsa smiled softly, praying seriously for a second that the car ride wouldn't get either of them killed.

* * *

The car ride was, thankfully, uneventful. Elsa didn't fear for her life once on the ride down, but she did wish she was deaf due to Anna's belting. She was overly thankful when the familiar mansion appeared over the hills. She may have even muttered "Oh thank _God_," only to be lightly slapped on her left shoulder blade. "You said that you love my singing."

"Yeah, when _I'm_ not three inches away, and you're _not _on a Fame rampage. Like seriously, are you making your choir kids sing this?" The comment earned her a laugh and another light smack.

They both got out of the car, surprised to see Olaf bounding towards them as he ran down the gravel walk, quickly taking the two duffle bags when he reached the two girls. Anna raised her eyebrow and questioned, "What about school?"

The boy smiled sheepishly. "Got out early for a hockey game…but then the game got canceled. So I stayed to greet y'all."

Anna squinted her eyes and Elsa rolled hers. "Oh come off it, An. Half of a missed day isn't going to kill the boy."

"You can't think that I'm going to be okay with your brother missing school. I'm a fuc—freaking teacher. It's my job to care about whether or not students go to school!"

Elsa smirked at the feisty redhead. "You skipped for a lot less than seeing your no-longer-estranged-for-eight-years older sister."

Anna smiled softly, and a little to coyly for Elsa's liking. "Well that's where Olaf and I are the same; we both skipped to be with you."

Elsa blushed a little before Anna wrapped her arms around the older woman's waist and rested her head on Elsa's shoulder. Olaf smiled at the affection the two showed each other. He quickly masked the goofy grin on his face with a loud, "Ewwww! You guys seriously need to get a room!" before dashing back up the drive with the two duffle bags like they weighed nothing. Both women let out a light laugh at the boy's antics. Anna reached up and kissed Elsa's cheek, then grabbed the blonde's left, un-casted hand and led her to the door.

Unlike the last time they were there, nobody greeted them at the door or on the walkway. Rather, a shout in greeting from the kitchen alerted them to Regina's presence. "Welcome back, girls. When you have a second, come back here and give me a hand. And I mean Anna; Elsa I gave up on you doing well in a kitchen when you were ten." They both made their way to the room in the back of the house. While walking through the halls, Elsa muttered, "The fire wasn't _that_ big…"

Regina shouted, "Anna, don't believe her if she says the fire wasn't big. That girl destroyed my kitchen." The two women entered the kitchen and each greeted the matriarch of the family with a hug and a kiss to her cheek. "I did get you a new kitchen, Mama."

Regina smirked, "Yes, little snow queen, you sure did. Your Papa wasn't too thrilled to pay though. Even with the insurance claim." Anna laughed easily at her girlfriend's embarrassed face.

"What's all this fuss and noise about?"

Both women turned around and saw Arthur standing in the doorway from the main hall. Elsa grinned, then quickly ran up and embraced her father. Anna stayed where she was standing, enjoying the father-daughter moment from a distance. Quickly he turned to Anna and said jovially, "Nothing from you, red?" She giggled and gave him a timid hug.

Olaf came dashing down from upstairs, quickly shouting to the group as he approached, "Hey! I just got a text from Kida. She said that something huge is happening downtown. She said—" his phone buzzed. "Oh my Go—goodness. She said that Peter and Wendy are getting in a huge fight, very public, very major fight. Like relationship-ending level fight. And she said that I _have_ to be there. Wendy's shouting stuff about another girl named 'Tink' or something like that. Can I go? It's just at Tiana's Place. Please! I'll be the _only _one out of the loop on Monday. I could get Milo to pick me up; Kida said he was meeting her there anyway."

Anna leaned over and whispered in Elsa's ear, "Who are these people?"

Elsa smirked and whispered back, "I know who Milo and Peter are—best friends of Olaf since they were preschool, but I don't know Wendy or Kida."

Anna nodded her head while Regina responded, "Do you really need to be there while your best friend gets humiliated by his girlfriend?"

"Yes! I need to be there for him, even if he is in the wrong with the whole situation. Peter's a good guy, he just doesn't understand that he has to restrain himself now."

Arthur smiled lightly at his wife, "Reg, let him go. He just wants to spend an afternoon with his friends."

Regina rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine. Go, Olaf. But tell Peter that next time, he shouldn't step out on Wendy. Lord only knows how many times she's going to take that boy back. Oh! And be home by curfew." Olaf grinned, shouted a quick, "thank you, Mama," and dashed out to the front porch, dialing Milo so his friend could pick him up.

* * *

Once Olaf was gone, everyone sat around talking easily, drinking coffee and eating wienerbrød*****. Arthur and Regina avoided the topic of why Elsa's hand was broken, and Anna and Elsa didn't bring it up either. They actually avoided all serious matters until there was lull in the conversation, the two couples sitting across from each other at the kitchen table waiting for the other pair to come up with a new topic. Finally, almost out of the blue, Regina asked, "Elsa, I don't think I've heard the story about how you and Anna met."

Arthur chimed in, "I told you what Anna told me, but Els, what about your side? We could finally learn about the past eight years of your life." He smiled softly, "There must be more to the architect that you grew up to be."

Elsa blushed softly, sharing a glance with Anna. Part of Elsa longed to leave the past in the past, to move on with her life and relationship with her parents. At the same, she knew that she wasn't the same girl who left the house. She had experienced some major hardships, and her parents had every right to know that. They deserved to know just how much Anna had saved her.

Elsa let out a shaky breath. "It's a really long story. Everything before the home, and while I was there, and after. I guess the 'after' and 'there' parts are the best, really the best parts of my life so far too. The whole 'before' part is really…" she glanced over at Anna, who took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze, "trying. To put it extremely lightly."

Both parents shared a quick look, before Regina spoke. "Elsa, baby, we aren't going to say a word. You just talk and tell us everything, if you want to. We want to know how you became the beautiful, strong, and independent woman we see here today." Both gave her gentle smiles. Elsa let out a deep breath again, and started her story.

"I guess I'll start with where I went from the house. I didn't know where I could go, you see. The summer wasn't starting for a few months, and I knew that Mulan wouldn't let me stay with her family. The only place I could think to go was to Meg's. I figured that her and her father, Hades Olympus, would let me crash there for a night. They actually let me stay for the rest of fourth quarter. They were a great help to me, Mr. Olympus said that he didn't care if I was gay, straight, bi, or a satyr, as long as I was safe then that's all that mattered. I really owe them my life, if it wasn't for them, then I have no idea what I would've done initially.

"My other friends found out from Mulan what had happened. Obviously, she didn't tell them about how we had been dating, or that I was gay or anything. Just that she knew I had been kicked out for whatever reason and that they shouldn't expect to see me back for senior year. At this point, the two of us had broken up and she had started seeing Shang again. My old friends ditched me, saying that I was too much of a loose cannon for them, that I was too much of a 'bad girl' to hang out with the 'princesses'. Obviously Cindy, Snow, and Aurora made the final call. They didn't spread rumors about me being pregnant or anything."

At this Regina muttered a soft, "Thank the Lord." Elsa smiled at her mother and continued her story. "After the semester ended, I decided that I had imposed too much on the Olympus' and one night I left. I packed all of the belongings I had managed to get from the house in the half hour Papa gave me into a duffle bag, snagged my backpack, and hopped on a bus to Arendelle city. It wasn't the most respectful way to leave, but I knew that Meg would try to convince me to stay, and would probably succeed, and I knew that I had to leave.

"I had nowhere to stay in Arendelle, and I owned virtually nothing. I decided to check into a homeless shelter for my first night there. I thought that as long as nobody knew I was gay, I would be safe." Elsa laughed softly while Anna squeezed her hand tighter. "I wasn't wrong. The first night I was there, some ass—jerks, sorry Papa, beat a young guy until he was bleeding all over the floor, all because he looked at one of the guys a little funnily. They assumed that he was gay, I guess, and I saw what my fate would be if that ever happened to me."

Elsa stopped talking. She took a couple calming breaths while Anna rubbed little patterns into the skin of Elsa's palm. She looked up at her parents, and they noticed tears in her eyes. "I didn't realize that it would be so much worse." The parents glanced over at Anna's face, watching it harden into an unreadable mask and her grip on Elsa's arm and hand tighten before she let go altogether, gripping her own arms firmly across her chest. They looked back to their daughter. "One night, in late June, one of the men started talking to me. Telling me how pretty I was, how fu—how he could show me a good time. I turned him down. He called me an 'uptight bitch' who wouldn't 'put out'. He…well, he…" she looked down and away from her parents. Her mother had silent tears rolling down her cheeks, her father was clutching onto his wife's hand and the edge of the table.

Elsa wiped away her tears and looked back to her family. "I didn't have anyone I could tell. It's not like the police would do anything. Lots of young homeless girls get…raped…all the time. I was just another statistic. The best I could do was to sleep with my back guarded, have some sort of weapon incase it happened again. I invested in mace, but nobody else tried to assault me, not even the guy who did it the first time.

"I knew that I had to leave the shelter, that I had to find a more permanent place to stay. It was the first week of July, actually the Fourth of July, that I met Kai. He and his wife, Gerta, go to different shelters on different holidays to volunteer, and sometimes offer to take in teens who have survived traumatic experiences. Kai's a therapist and he gave us free help for our individual issues, if he thought that we needed help. He saw me, at this time I was in this semi-catatonic state, and he asked me what was wrong. For one reason or another, I told him. I told him everything. How I had the perfect life of a preachers daughter, living in a large and beautiful home, to being disowned from my family and sleeping on a cot, afraid to get raped again.

"As soon as I told him, he said, 'I could help you. I run a facility that takes on three or four homeless teens at a time. We've got one vacancy, and you sound like you need a safe environment. We'll even help you out with transferring to the local school if you feel you need to stay with us beyond the summer. We provide therapy, food, shelter, and recreation for all of the kids that stay with us. You'll be treated like a daughter to a large and caring family. All of this will be free of charge for you.' He had the warmest smile that I had seen in a long time. Obviously, I said that I would love to go. The next day, he picked me up at the shelter and took me to the home for troubled teens, which was run out of his house. Everyone greeted me warmly. I was to share a room with Rapunzel Corona, who was going to be discharged in the beginning of August."

Arthur spoke up, "Now I know I wasn't supposed to say anything, but Rapunzel was nice to you, yes?"

Elsa grinned, "Yes Papa. She was better than nice. She introduced me to Anna; she's Anna's older cousin."

Anna butted in quickly, "And my best friend. I was her Maid of Honor at her wedding."

Elsa laughed, "You did not look good in that bright pink gown. What on earth was she thinking? She knew that your hair would clash terribly with it."

"This is true, but you looked drop dead _gorgeous_ in that pastel pink she put you in. I thought you were an angel. But it's only because you look good in _every _color."

Elsa scrunched up her nose, "I do not look good in yellow. It makes me look too pale and sickly."

Regina put up her hands and silenced the conversation. "Hold on a moment!" She paused to gather her thoughts and turned to look her daughter in the eyes. "You mean to tell me, Elsa, that you were raped and did absolutely nothing about it? You didn't report it to the police? You just bought pepper spray to sleep with at night? How do you expect me, and your father, who I am sure is trying to ignore it so that we can keep talking about the wedding, to react to this? How could you just tell us that this happened and move on in the conversation like it was nothing? Elsa—"

"Mama, stop." The blonde daughter glanced over at her parents before looking back at Anna, then taking a shuttering breath. "There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about this, about what happened to me. There are days that I can't look people in the eyes, that I can't so much as brush up against another person without feeling dirty. But I can't just dwell on what happened. I can't let it consume me. That's what Kai told me, that's what he taught me to do. He showed me how to come to terms with what had been done and that none of it had been my fault. That the only person to blame was the ass—jerk who did it. This is how I have to cope, Mama. If I talk about it, I can't dwell on it, for fear of what I might think to myself."

Arthur shook his head. "Some things are unforgivable in this world. That asshole bastard—yes that's the best and only way to describe this pathetic excuse of a man—will never receive my forgiveness. He has been shut out from the gates of heaven and he will perish in hell like he belongs."

Regina added softly, "Amen," before picking up the discarded coffee mugs and packing away the rest of the dessert. Elsa quickly stood up to help her mother. Anna smiled as she watched the two women work. Arthur quickly asked Anna, "So what was it like when you two first met?" only to be stopped by Regina, demanding over the rushing faucet, "Don't you dare answer any questions about your relationship before I'm sitting there, Anna."

Anna giggled and turned to Arthur and said, "I'm sorry, but the Queen has spoken. I can't tell you just yet."

He laughed softly and said, "Clearly you see who runs things around here." Regina and Elsa moved back to the table. "Of course it's me. The reverend's wife always runs the show. And she always enlists her children. Isn't that right, Elsa?"

Elsa whispered in Anna's ear, "It's hell." Then quickly spoke up to her Mama, "I'm always glad to help," while Anna giggled.

"Now," Regina began, "I'm pretty sure that my husband asked what it was like when you first met our daughter."

Anna grinned. She never tired of telling this story. "I met her two days before my cousin was to be discharged, right after the first week of school. I was carrying Rapunzel's sketch-pads and pencils when I accidently tripped over my own two feet and fell flat on my face. I looked up and saw a beautiful blonde girl standing there. She giggled and offered out her hand, apologizing profusely for accidently tripping me." She turned to face Elsa and smiled as she said, "I honestly can say that I didn't catch a single word. I was too mesmerized by her beautiful face." She looked back at the audience of her story as she said, "Elsa offered her hand for me to take and I'm pretty sure I just kept gawking at her like a loon. I had no motor functions at all. Finally, when I realized that she was about to walk away, I grabbed her hand, used her to prop me up and apologized for being an idiot."

Elsa grinned cheekily and said, "I'm pretty sure your exact words were, 'Omigod. I am soooo sorry. It's just awkward—you're not awkward, I'm awkward, you're gorgeous—wait what?' And then you tried to apologize for about _painful_ minutes about how you didn't mean to call me gorgeous, but that didn't mean I wasn't but just that you didn't mean it—" Anna covered Elsa's mouth as the blonde continued rattling the story. The freckled woman was only turned redder with embarrassment when Elsa licked her palm. "Eww! Els, that's gross!"

"Then stop being a child."

"Coming from the person who just licked my palm."

The parents laughed at the two girls antics before Anna said, "_Any_way, I started rambling and Elsa cut me off saying that it wasn't a problem. Next thing I know, Rapunzel comes out of their room and laughs. She said, 'Figures. I leave you alone for two seconds and you manage to almost kill my roommate.' And she introduced us. The rest was history."

Elsa laughed, "But actually. Anna needed help with her history homework later on, was told to get it from Rapunzel, and because the only things Rapunzel was ever good at in school were Art and, surprisingly, Trig, I was enlisted to teach it."

Anna laughed. "I'm pretty sure I almost failed that test because of you."

Elsa quipped back, "It's not my fault that you couldn't focus on the lesson as much as you focused on me."

Anna stuck her tongue out at her girlfriend. "Soon after that, I was not allowed to study at Elsa's with Rapunzel, as decreed by Rapunzel."

Regina smiled softly, "And, I'm sure, your family agreed?"

Anna shifted in her chair for a second. She smiled softly and said, "I lived with my aunt and uncle, and neither of them knew that I wasn't straight. Elsa was my first girlfriend, and even then I didn't start dating her until almost a year after we had first met. I had been dating this guy named Hans at the time."

Elsa rolled her eyes, and Anna lightly nudged Elsa with her elbow. "He wasn't very…supportive…of Elsa being gay. Or of me being bisexual. He kind of 'outted' me, and her, to my family, well all of them but Rapunzel. She knew from the second I met Elsa that I was bound to fall head over heels with her, and she with me." She smiled back at her girlfriend before continuing on with her story. "Luckily for me, my aunt and uncle were fine with it. They actually expected it from me. Elsa was a bit of a shock but they were cool. That was the night I dumped Hans. I don't think we talked with him again until he apologized when he was a sophomore in college. I was a freshman and Elsa was a junior, he said that he felt bad about what he did, he was just projecting his own fears of being gay onto Elsa and me. He and his boyfriend have been together for almost five years now."

Elsa added, "And we've been close with Hans ever since. Our group became the informal Gay Straight Alliance on campus."

Regina scoffed, "Well, I wouldn't have befriended him again. He was rude to both of you."

Elsa smiled and said, "He used to quote the Bible at me, telling me where it said that homosexuality was wrong. I would quote verses of acceptance back at him. He ran out, I didn't. Not to mention, about ninety percent of the time, he misquoted the verse. Finally, I told him about how I was a preacher's daughter. He turned about as red as his hair, which is brighter than Anna's."

The parents laughed. Elsa and Anna took turns telling stories about their misadventures with Rapunzel, how they initially met Kristoff, the time when Elsa was a stable hand and Merida nearly got her fired on her first day, and how they met Eugene at a Halloween party and Rapunzel threw up in his boots, but everyone calls it the 'true love' story.

In turn, the parents told stories about the neighborhood, people Anna had never met and now wasn't sure she wanted to meet. They talked about how the choir wasn't anywhere near as good as when Elsa had been a part of it, and some girl named Ariel had made it through to the top twelve on the hit talent show, "Muses' Choice" which, as far as Anna could tell, was a combination of American Idol, X-Factor, and The Voice. She liked watching Elsa listen to her parents tell stories of Olaf and his games. They gossiped about a girl from the parish they think he liked, and how they hoped he would ask her out soon before somebody else did.

All in all, the first day of their little vacation had gone well. As long as the rest of the week stayed this peaceful, both women believed that they would have the mental strength to face whatever their future together held.

* * *

***type of Nordic-style sponge cake **

** Alright snowflakes! That's all for now. I'll try to update in May, but its my last few weeks of college. Summer is a coming in! Once it hits I'll have more time to write this. If you like what you read, let me know through a review, favorite, or follow! Or a PM too. Until next time.**


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